


5. Cherry

by brokenes



Series: Teen Wolf Challenge (Fine Line Album - Harry Styles) [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Derek Hale & Scott McCall Friendship, Derek Hale Takes Care of Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale is a Softie, Future Fic, Happy Ending But Unexpected, M/M, Nurse Derek Hale, Past Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Pining Stiles Stilinski, Sad Stiles Stilinski, Sad with a Happy Ending, Scott is a Good Friend, Song: Cherry (Harry Styles), Songfic, Sterek Angst, Stiles Is Bitter, Stiles Stilinski Goes on Dates, Stiles Stilinski Has Feelings, Tattoo Artist Stiles Stilinski, badass stiles, past breakup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:41:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25739761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokenes/pseuds/brokenes
Summary: Stiles gets into a bar fight that lands him in the ER. Derek is the nurse assigned his case.Or,“ Mr. Stilinski, sorry for taking so long, we’ve been swarmed today as you can see. Where is – Stiles?”“ Derek, I – uh – you’re a nurse.”
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Teen Wolf Challenge (Fine Line Album - Harry Styles) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826380
Comments: 18
Kudos: 194





	5. Cherry

**Author's Note:**

> The gifs used aren't my own so credit to their owners!

Stiles had an icepack on his nose, blood no longer sliding down his face, which he took as a good sign. Normally, he wouldn’t go to the ER for a broken nose, but he was pretty sure he needed stitches for the cut on his back, maybe even for the one on his bicep. He’d been there for at least an hour, and if no one showed up to stitch him up soon, he would just bail. He couldn’t be assed after the night he’d had.

“ Mr. Stilinski, sorry for taking so long, we’ve been swarmed today as you can see. Where is – Stiles?” Stiles’ hand dropped away from his nose, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Derek was standing in front of him, in nurse scrubs, with a name-tag on his shirt, and glasses hung with a cord around his neck. He had a full beard now, his hair was longer too, but everything else.. was exactly how Stiles remembered it to be.

“ Derek, I – uh – you’re a nurse.” Derek looked down on himself, as if he was just remembering that he was. That he had a job to do. He put his glasses on, took Stiles’ chart to remind himself of what he needed.

“ I’ll be right back, I just need to get the equipment to sterile your wounds and stitch them up.” Derek held a finger in the air, seemed to trip around the curtains, before he disappeared out of Stiles’ sight. Stiles cursed under his breath. If he had a reason before to just bounce, he had several now that Derek was a variable to consider. But Derek was back before Stiles could make a decision, and he couldn’t not stay. Derek grabbed the mobile table with the saline solution, creams and needles on it, sat uncomfortably close to Stiles, right between his opened legs, taking Stiles’ bicep to inspect it.

“ Yup, needs two stitches. Would you prefer to get something for the pain in a pill or a cream that will numb the area? There is also a shot that you can take, but I remember you not being a fan of needles, so.” Derek wasn’t really looking in Stiles’ eyes. He was stubbornly avoiding them, Stiles could tell. It was weird to see Derek so.. awkward, unsure of himself.

“ I’m fine with whatever.” Stiles swallowed, pushed the words out, and put the icepack back on his nose, wanting to block his view of Derek even a little. Derek nodded, sterilized the wound before applying the anesthetic. He had to wait a couple of minutes for it to numb the area, so he sterilized the needle, prepared the surgical thread, then there was nothing for him to do, but look around as if exploring the room. He spent more hours there than at his own apartment but Stiles didn’t know that.

“ You’ve been working here for how long?” Stiles asked, hating the silence, the wasted time.

“ Two years now.”

“ Oh wow, that’s a long time. Is it your first gig as a nurse?”

“ No, I – “ A man – a doctor – interrupted their conversation, closing the curtains behind him before swallowing Derek’s words into his mouth.

“ Babe, I’m with a patient.” Derek chuckled, put his hands to his chest to stop him from diving for more.

“ I can see that, but you didn’t take your lunch break, so when we had to come down here to get Mrs. Stephan for her surgery, I figured I should come say hi.”

“ Well, hi. Now, get back to work.” Derek stood, turned that man around to push him out, but he twirled back, went in for another kiss, but to the cheek this time.

“ Come up to the second floor when you’re done here. I’ll be in and out of that surgery in no time, and we can grab a bite together, okay?” Derek blushed, nodded with his lips between his teeth. That doctor nodded sheepishly at Stiles, before walking out. Derek cleared his throat, before sitting back down, grabbing the needle and steadily working on Stiles’ arm.

“ Is he your boyfriend?” Stiles asked, unable to stop the bitterness from seeping through.

“ Yeah. He’s a general surgeon here. Had been for over 6 years now. We’ve been dating for a year or so.”

“ That’s – “ Stiles paused, to wince slightly, but also to gather his thoughts, “ That’s great. You look.. good. Happy. At ease.” Derek smiled at that, finishing up Stiles’ arm before finally looking at him for the first time since he’d come in and realized it was him.

“ I am. It was rough, for a few years after leaving Beacon Hills. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I was weary of everyone, didn’t let people get close, didn’t let myself form any sort of routine because I was terrified of having it ripped away from me again. Then, I was talking to Scott one time, and he suggested nursing school, since they have one of the best ones in the country here, so I did that, graduated, got my own apartment, then started volunteering in this clinic downtown. I did that for a year, before I got this opportunity, and I’ve been here since then.” Stiles nodded, tried to picture Derek going through all those different phases in his life, wondered how many versions of him had there been between the one who dumped him before leaving town and the one looking at him with all the peacefulness and gratitude in the world now.

“ You talk to Scott?” Stiles didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry.

“ I do. I talk to everybody back in Beacon Hills. Some more than others of course, but, yeah.”

“ You don’t talk to **_me_**.” Stiles sounded a little hurt. He felt it too. Derek sighed, stood to move his things and start on Stiles’ back.

“ You haven’t exactly made any effort to talk to me either.” Derek said, after a beat of silence.

“ Because you **_dumped_** me and bailed. What was I supposed to do? Act all friendly and buddy-buddy with you?”

“ No. I mean. I don’t know. It’s been years, you must have moved on by now.” Stiles had the mind to deny Derek’s assumptions, to tell him that he hadn’t been in a serious relationship since, that he’d left Beacon Hills a year after he did, on a search to find him, and when that didn’t happen, he just never went back home. He started working in tattoo shops that specialized in services for supernatural creatures, then, he opened his own shop, with Deaton’s guidance and shitload of books.

“ It was too late. By the time I stopped having feelings towards it, or you, too much time had gone by, and I didn’t know how to approach you.”

“ Sorry.” Derek whispered, when Stiles groaned in pain. Stiles didn’t know what that apology was actually for.

“ How about we go to dinner together? Tomorrow night?” Derek suggested. A peace offering.

“ I don’t know, Derek, I work tomorrow all day.”

“ What do you do?”

“ I have a tattoo shop for supernatural beings.”

“ What the – that’s so cool! Give me a card or something, maybe the next time I decide on a tattoo, I can come to you instead of burning it on myself.” Stiles cracked something like a smile, remembered all those nights he spent tracing that tattoo. And the day he passed out, watching Scott get his.

“ Hand me my jacket.” Stiles pulled his good arm out, as Derek took his black, leather jacket off the chair, paused a little because Derek could have sworn, he’d once had the same one, before handing it over. Stiles rummaged through his pocket, retrieving one of his cards, and handing it to Derek. Derek put it in his pocket, finishing the final stitch on Stiles’ back.

“ Nice jacket.” Derek muttered. Stiles’ breathing seemed to stagger, his body radiating a bit more heat.

“ I have a tattoo parlor, I figured I should look the part.” Derek snorted, thinking back to all the times that he’d given Stiles his jacket, on cold nights, or rainy nights, or just nights when he was feeling extra possessive and territorial.

“ Leather always did look good on you. Gave you an edge.”

“ It grew on me.” Stiles shrugged, when he felt Derek’s hands pulling away, done with the stitches.

“ Your nose is already reset, right?” Derek took another look at the chart to check, but Stiles nodded anyway, stood to put on his jacket.

“ What even happened? Who did you piss off?”

“ Some drunk dude at the bar near the parlor. He seemed to be high on something and he was all over the bartender. She was handling herself pretty well, but at one point, he had her by the waist, and she was shorter than him so she was struggling a little. Whatever he had in his system, made him stronger than he looked. But yeah, he gave me an elbow to the nose, then broke a bottle and gave me those cuts.”

“ Did you win at least?”

“ Eventually.” Stiles grinned, all smug. Derek shook his head to himself, finished up Stiles’ discharge paperwork, and told him he was good to go.

“ I, uh, I can do tomorrow night, if you’re still offering.” Stiles said, once the curtain was opened and they were thrown back into the world.

“ I am. I’ll tell Austin, and I’ll text you the details. Unless you have a place in mind?” Stiles gulped, wanting to take it back, now that the boyfriend was part of the deal.

“ I’m good with whatever. My new number is on the card. See you later. And thanks.” Stiles smiled, waved, and basically ran out of the ER.

As soon as he was out, he grabbed his phone and dialed Scott’s number. Time difference be damned, he was about to lose his shit, and he needed to talk it through with Scott. Scott sleepily answered on the third ring, yawning when Stiles didn’t say he was in any immediate danger.

“ What’s up?”

“ Guess who I just saw. Actually, no, I have 0 patience for a guessing game, it was Derek. I just saw and spoke to Derek.”

“ What? How the hell did you manage that?”

“ He’s a nurse in a hospital nearby. I got into a bar fight and went to the ER for a couple of stitches and there he was. With his surgeon boyfriend **_Austin_** , calling him baby right in front of my fucking face. I hate him.”

“ Austin or Derek?” Scott snorted, and Stiles hated how amused he seemed to be.

“ Both. And I kind of hate you too right now. Why the hell didn’t you tell me you and Derek were on speaking terms?”

“ I didn’t want to rub it in your face. You know how bad things were for a longass time there. I mean, we stopped even saying his name in front of you because you were taking it so hard. Plus, he never said anything that was relevant to you. He never said where he was or what he was doing. He just told me about Austin last time we talked, and that was only because I heard him in the background.”

“ You **_knew_** about him?” Stiles was offended, feeling the sour taste of replacement at the back of his throat.

“ Would you have wanted me to tell you about it?” Stiles started to think about it, about Scott reopening that wound for no reason other than to pour some more salt into it.

“ I don’t know. I guess I’m just caught off guard, that’s all. I thought you were on my team, man.”

“ I am. You know I am. And he knows it too. I just – I didn’t know being on your team meant I would have to ditch the guy, especially when most of the time, he was the one reaching out. I couldn’t just block him out, dude.”

“ Yeah, I think I’m going to go. Sorry for waking you up.” Stiles was done with this conversation. He wished this night had never happened. He wished he’d never known about any of this, hadn’t been reminded of the presence and the loss.

“ Stiles – “

“ I don’t want to talk about it, Scott.”

“ I’m sorry, okay? I know how – I know he broke your heart, and I’m sorry if I made it seem like that didn’t matter, because it does. I am always going to hate him a little for it. I don’t want you to feel betrayed because this isn’t what it is. I would never, choose anyone over you, you know that. But you had us all with you, and he was out there, all alone. Even Cora left him at some point. I didn’t – I couldn’t hate him enough to let him feel completely alone in the world, Stiles.”

“ I don’t want you to. You were right to be there for him. I – I’m sorry for being an asshole about it. I just – I’m pissed, man. Because he walked out on me, and he – he looks so much better than I had ever seen him, had ever even dreamt for him. He has a job and a boyfriend and a home. And – I know this is the shittiest thing I’ll probably ever say, but, don’t I deserve this too? This is selfish as fuck, but **_he_** left **_me_** , he broke **_my_** heart, so why the hell is he the one with the happy ending? Why wasn’t I enough? How did he find it so easy to move on and build a life that had nothing to do with me?”

“ He didn’t. From what I was told, none of it had been easy on him, Stiles. But – that has nothing to do with you. His own struggling and pain, isn’t on you anymore. You deserve better than to spend your life chasing after – a shadow, Stiles. Something that you had, but – you’re not going to have back. It’s gone. It’s **_been_** gone, Stiles, so now, you get to find what **_you_** want to do and who you want to do it with. Build your own life, you earned at least that much.” Stiles kind of wanted to weep, because he’d spent all those years thinking and worrying and missing, that he couldn’t remember not having to do any of that. He didn’t know if he could be anything but the Stiles that was broken up with and left searching the earth for someone just to know the reason why.

“ Do you think I should come back home?” Scott gasped weakly. He’d stopped considering Stiles coming home a possibility a long time ago, because the disappointment that came with every call that didn’t even mention the intention to do it, was morphing into something like resentment and he couldn’t afford to feel that towards Stiles.

“ If – if you’re happier out there, then, no. But if you left here just because **_he_** did, then – it’s time to come home, Stiles.”

“ Yeah,” Stiles sighed, relieved, “ I need you to do something else for me, then you can go back to sleep.”

“ What is it?” Scott chuckled a little, knowing that he’d do anything for Stiles.

“ Can you text Derek that I won’t be able to make it to that dinner tomorrow? Tell him I’m sorry, and that his next tattoo would be free regardless.”

“ Okay, I can do that. Are you sure you’re okay, though? They cleared you at the hospital?”

“ Oh yeah, I’m good. Just a few stitches and a broken nose.”

“ How many times have you broken that now?”

“ I lost count, to be honest. But anyway, I’ll let you go now. Talk to you later, Scotty.”

Three days later, Stiles was driving back to Beacon Hills, having left his shop in the hands of Nick; who had been working alongside Stiles for years now, and had even mentored him at the very beginning when Stiles knew nothing about tattooing and a lot about the supernatural world. He didn’t tell anyone he was coming home, let it be a surprise, as he parked in front of his childhood home, walked in to find Melissa in her scrubs, setting the table, with the sheriff and Scott in the kitchen. Everyone piled on top of Stiles, and he cried extra hard when he noticed how much his dad’s hair had greyed.

They called everyone in for a pack dinner at the Stilinskis. It was easy, comfortable, light in a way that not many things had been for Stiles. And he wasn’t envious of Derek, because he left all of this behind, he missed out on so much that he would never get back. But Stiles still could. And he was so grateful, for these people, for the life he built with them, and their lives that still had a place for him, even after all this time apart.

Six months later, Stiles got a text from an unsaved number, that read _I just got my free tattoo. Nick gave it to me personally. Thank you for the recommendation._ Stiles smiled, kind of wished he could see what Derek had gotten, but he wasn’t overwhelmed with curiosity anymore. He wrote back _Glad you had a good experience. Nick is great at what he does._

Two months after that, Stiles was opening another branch of his shop, located in Beacon Hills. All his friends got tattoos, and Scott was beaming over his for months after. Cora even came down one night when she was passing through Beacon Hills, got her first tattoo and talked about her girlfriend and the road trip they had been on for almost three months. Stiles hugged her as she got in her car, waved at her through her rearview mirror. The goodbye didn’t feel half as bad as all the previous ones. 

A year after his return to Beacon Hills, he started dating. Casually at first, then, he kind of started falling for someone. A lawyer that was defending on a case that his dad was working on. They fought like crazy at first, Stiles being overly protective and defensive when it came to his dad, and him wanting to do his job, defend his client. The sheriff’s department won the case and the client was sent to prison for five years, but Ian; the lawyer, asked Stiles if he could buy him a cup of coffee to apologize for his past behavior. Stiles smugly agreed. Coffee turned into lunch, then ice-cream, then Stiles had a shift at the parlor, so Ian tagged along, didn’t leave until it was dawn and he had to prep for court. They dated for eight months before they moved in together.

Three years later, Scott showed up at Stiles’ house, with a wedding invitation in hand. Derek’s wedding. Stiles smiled to ease his friend’s worry, assured him that he could go, that actually, he had to. Because weddings were special and Derek couldn’t be without family for his. Stiles even texted Derek to congratulate him. And Derek texted back, almost instantly, telling him that he was happy for him too, that Scott had told him about his engagement to Ian. That night, Ian came home with all the comfort food in the world, thinking that Stiles would need it, but Stiles was.. okay. He had everything he needed. And more. He still ate all the food anyway and then kissed Ian stupid until the next morning. 


End file.
